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Corner of a victory and garland sarcophagus. (©Archaeological Exploration of Sardis/President and Fellows of Harvard College) -
Corner of a victory and garland sarcophagus. (©Archaeological Exploration of Sardis/President and Fellows of Harvard College)
Victory Fragment
Report 2: Sculpture from Sardis: The Finds through 1975
(1978)
Cat. 174
- Date
- 2nd or early 3rd C. AD, Roman
- Sardis or Museum Inv. No.
- NoEx60.018
- Material
- Marble, Stone
- Object Type
- Sculpture, Sarcophagus
- Sculpture Type
- Sarcophagus
- Site
- Sardis
- Findspot
- Village of Sart Mustafa (Sardis).
- Description
- The corner of the sarcophagus is decorated with a winged Victory, arms outstretched and holding two fruit and leaf garlands. Her large horizontal wings curve backwards and give a real feeling of depth and space. A pointed leaf rosette to the Victory’s l. has superposed leaves. The center perhaps had a stone insert. The Victor is nicely done after a tall, slender Hellenistic type: high horizontal wings, high-girt waist, and one breast exposed. The interior is worked with a large point. The piece is strongly drilled and undercut.
- Condition
Marble.
Broken at bottom on l. and on r. Head of Victory broken off. The break at r. end may be actually a rounded working off for piecing. On l. front, irregular cutting with clamp hole for holding lid (cutting 0.09 by 0.05; clamp 0.03 by 0.015; 0.02 D.). The top is worked off to seat the sarcophagus lid.
- Dimensions
- H. 0.49; L. 0.48 on front, 0.15 or r. end; Th. int. 0.14; raised inner top part 0.07, lower 0.06.
- Comments
- See Also
- Bibliography
- For examples of corner Victories on sarcophagi, see Lehmann-Hartleben-Olsen, Dionysiac Sarcophagi Baltimore, 43f. and 48f., figs. 19-23, 26; or Ward-Perkins, Sarcophagi, 98-104.
- Author
- NHR